The Bretton Woods Agreement is a multilateral treaty that emerged near the end of World War II, driven by the need to restore the global economy and prevent future crises. Led by the United States, this agreement created an international monetary system linking the US dollar to gold, with a fixed value of $35 per ounce of gold. This system ensured that only countries could exchange dollars for gold, aiming to restore global economic stability after the war and prevent future crises. In the context of economic instability due to World War II and the Great Depression, the United States took advantage of its position as the dominant economic power to control the global monetary system. Additionally, the Bretton Woods conference established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to maintain global financial stability and support economic development (Oatley, 2016). The system aimed to ensure world economic stability and integrate countries into the global capitalist system led by the United States.
The international political context behind the formation of this system included the massive impact of World War II, which devastated the economies of Europe and Asia, while the US remained strong. The United States wanted to ensure global economic stability to prevent a repeat of the Great Depression and secure its influence in facing the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The Bretton Woods system was also designed to integrate developing countries and US allies into the global capitalist system, with the US controlling key international institutions like the IMF and World Bank.
However, the important question that arises is: who actually controls the dollar?
The Dollar and the Federal Reserve
One of the most crucial aspects to discuss is: who has the right to print dollars, which at the time were backed by gold? Is it the US Government? Surprisingly, no! The entity that can print dollars is a central bank called the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, the Federal Reserve is a private central bank, meaning it is not owned by the US Government itself (Greider, 1987). To understand who was behind the establishment of the Federal Reserve, we should go back a few decades.
The creation of the Federal Reserve was driven by public distrust of banking institutions in the United States. In the simplest way, the bankers were using people’s anger at the bank institution itself to build the federal reserve. The 1907 event was one instance where distrust in banking institutions had adverse effects on the economy and markets. Rising prices and uncertainty about the security of assets held by depositors were the main culprits (Bruner & Carr, 2007). The Federal Reserve was formed after a secret meeting on Jekyll Island, Georgia, in 1910. This meeting was attended by seven key figures, including Nelson Aldrich, who would later become part of the Rockefeller family, Paul Warburg (a banker at Kuhn, Loeb & Co.), and Henry P. Davison (J.P. Morgan & Co.), aiming to design a central banking system to prevent financial crises like the Panic of 1907 (Griffin, 1994). The outcome of this meeting was a plan later known as the Aldrich Plan. Although the initial plan was criticized and rejected by Congress for being too favorable to private bankers, its basic concepts eventually became the foundation of the legislation that created the Federal Reserve.
The financial crisis at that time was triggered by one thing: the amount of dollars circulating was greater than the existing gold reserves, which ultimately caused a major shock to confidence in the banks. Depositors naturally wanted their money to be exchanged back into gold, fearing that existing gold reserves would not be sufficient to back all depositors’ money (Bruner & Carr, 2007). This is a natural consequence of an economy based on usury.
Banking systems, especially since the era of the Bank of England, have legitimized the practice of usury. The sterling notes issued by the Bank of England were not backed by gold. Britain officially abandoned the gold standard in 1931. Since then, sterling notes have no longer been directly tied to gold. The value of the currency is now based on public trust in the British government and the economic and monetary policies implemented by the Bank of England, including inflation, interest rates, and overall economic stability.
A similar situation occurred with the dollar in 1971, when the dollar officially became fiat currency, meaning its value is determined by an institution (the government or central bank) rather than by a physical asset like gold. In the past, when usury was still considered forbidden by the church, many criticized the government and tried to raise public awareness about the dangers of this practice. William Shakespeare, the writer of Romeo and Juliet, as a Christian, also voiced criticism through his work The Merchant of Venice (Ferguson, 2008). In this play, one of the main characters, Shylock, is a moneylender who lends money with interest. The story focuses on the conflict between Shylock and Antonio, who borrows money from him, with severe penalties if repayment is not made. The theme of usury and debt contracts forms the core of much of the conflict in the drama.
Bank Cartels and the Expansion Solution
An excessive increase in the money supply can be a serious problem, especially when it comes from one institution—banks. This expansion of the money supply leads to rising prices, inflation, devaluation, and instability. Hence, banks seek to regulate the economy to ensure that their operations can continue smoothly (Rothbard, 2008). This is done not only by one bank but by a group of private banks combining their power.
This aligns with the definition of a cartel, which is a form of cooperation between companies or business entities operating in the same industry or market, with the primary aim of controlling prices, limiting production, or regulating the market for mutual benefit.
The most dangerous power held by bank cartels, of course, is the ability to print their own money, and this has been the case since the establishment of the Bank of England. It should be noted that before being nationalized in 1946, the Bank of England was a private bank, its name merely borrowing the name of England, although it was a private institution.
If gold were to be used as currency, its limited quantity would hinder usury practices, especially if these practices involved large sums. Can you guess an example? Of course, war. From the Napoleonic Wars to World War I and World War II, countless amounts of wealth were generated from usury-based practices.
The Rothschild family, for example, played a crucial role in providing loans to countries during wars, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. They used their international banking network to finance countries like Britain, Austria, and Prussia during major conflicts, including the Napoleonic Wars. One of the most famous examples is Nathan Mayer Rothschild’s role in funding Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, contributing to the victory at the Battle of Waterloo. These loans helped nations quickly acquire large sums of money, solidifying the Rothschilds’ position as a global financial power.
Returning to the fundamental issue: the enormous inflation caused by usury practices and the ability to print money. Fiat currency is essentially worthless if there is no trust from its users; in other words, paper currency only functions because of the trust that people place in it for daily trade and transactions. The problems caused by usury practices point to one solution, which the banking cartels of that time called the Expansion Solution. The Expansion Solution aims to mitigate the effects of inflation and attract new customers so that the inflated money supply can be balanced with new customers. This also means an increase in trust in the fiat currency used, preventing a possible collapse (Michael, 2012). All that is needed is regulation and control, something that is inherently dangerous. Central banks’ ability to control also means the ability to create or cause an economic crisis.
Bretton Woods and the New World Order
The Bretton Woods Agreement is one of the most significant expansions ever undertaken, and its influence is still felt today. The existence of the dollar as fiat currency printed by the Federal Reserve, which was founded for the benefit of large private bankers in America, has managed to extend its influence worldwide. It has even become the foundation of the International Monetary System (IMS) still in operation today. Despite efforts towards de-dollarization, usury remains the core of the international monetary system.
The end of the gold standard marked the birth of a new era that benefits the usury-based international monetary system. The unlimited amount of currency compared to the finite quantity of gold enables the system to function more efficiently. In this era, the true effects of imperialism are most strongly felt. Control over resources and markets has expanded, even without the need to send troops for colonization. The phrase “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer” embodies the new era of enslavement affecting almost all cultural and social systems worldwide, a result of the globalization of the usury-based international monetary system.
The dollar and fiat currency have become tools for shaping a new world order. Massive inflation is no longer a problem, nor is the increasing amount of fiat currency being printed. The existence of international banking institutions will maintain global economic stability, guiding it toward global enslavement and other problems.
How many countries around the world are now burdened with debt? Even the interest alone combined has become so great that it affects inflation, devaluation, and global depression. All these factors force nations to continuously exploit their own resources, but they will never fully enjoy the benefits.
For the United States and its allies, the cost of war is no longer a difficult issue. The Federal Reserve will always support it by printing almost unlimited amounts of money for war funding. The consequence? It will be borne by other countries that also use the dollar or fiat currency for their transactions. This is truly unfair, especially when we consider how vulnerable this economic system is to the real owners of vast wealth, such as George Soros. Haven’t the various crises that have occurred been enough to prove how disastrous the usury-based monetary system is?
